Historic soccer club Bury on Tuesday became the first team to be expelled from the English Football League (EFL) in more than two decades after a takeover bid collapsed.
The two-time FA Cup winners, who only a few months ago were celebrating promotion to the third tier, lost all hope of salvation when a takeover bid fell apart shortly before the 4pm deadline.
The club from northwest England are the first to be expelled from the league — comprising all the divisions below the top-tier Premier League — since Maidstone United in 1992.
Bury’s historic rivals Bolton Wanderers — one of the founders of the EFL, but who have been in administration since May — won some breathing space when they were given 14 days to find a buyer.
However, for Bury the bell has tolled on their time in the EFL, ending more than 100 years of participation that yielded two FA Cups and produced players like former Manchester City and England great Colin Bell.
Ironically, Bury, who became the first FA Cup winners to be ousted from the league, and Bolton were due to face each other in a televised match on Sunday next week.
Bury are the first team to be expelled from the third tier of English soccer. The remaining 23 teams are to complete the season and only three instead of four teams would be relegated.
“Today is undoubtedly one of the darkest days in the league’s recent history,” EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans said. “I understand this will be a deeply upsetting and devastating time for Bury’s players, staff, supporters and the wider community.”
The writing had been on the wall for Bury after a roller-coaster day for fans and employees alike, when C&N Sporting Risk withdrew its takeover bid offer to Steve Dale, who had bought the club in December last year for ￡1 (US$1.22).
C&N said in a statement that it was “unable to proceed” with the bid and hinted that Bury’s problems ran deep.
“We will be happy to work together with the EFL to share our findings to help them with their ongoing review of football governance,” it said.
“It is essential for the long-term future of all members of the EFL and the broader football family,” it added.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS